are taken commercially in the central Mediterra- 

 nean, including the Ligurian. Tyrrhenian, Ionian, 

 and Adriatic Seas, but there are no reports of 

 catches by anglers (de Sylva. 1973). 



Africa. — Sailfish occur along the African coast 

 from at least Dakar to the Gulf of Guinea. This 

 species supports a sizeable commercial fishery off 

 the Gulf of Guinea (Ovchinnikov, 1966). The 

 world-record Atlantic sailfish of 64 kg came from the 

 Ivory Coast, a location where sailfish are reported to 

 occur frequently. Undoubtedly, sailfish are poten- 

 tially plentiful to the angler along the coast from 

 Dakar into the Gulf of Guinea, although angling 

 facilities including suitable trolling boats are proba- 

 bly scarce. Blue marlin are reported from off Dakar. 

 Guinea, Sierra Leone, and into the Gulf of Guinea, 

 and have been caught by anglers at Ascension and 

 St. Helena Islands. Black marlin are reported in the 

 Japanese longline catches to occur along the Mid- 

 Atlantic Ridge (Ueyanagi et al., 1970); however, no 

 authenticated catch has been made by a commercial 

 or sport fisherman. Swordfish are frequently taken 

 from deep waters along the West African coast. 



East and South Africa. — Excellent marlin and 

 sailfish angling (Williams, 1970) occurs from Malindi 

 (Kenya) southwards to Durban (Natal). Black mar- 

 lin, striped marlin, blue marlin, and sailfish are taken 

 seasonally along the coast. White marlin, shortbill 

 spearfish, and longbill spearfish have been reported 

 from waters off South Africa, in an area of mixing 

 between Atlantic and Indian Ocean currents (Pen- 

 rith and Wapenaar, 1962; Ueyanagi etal., 1970), but 

 their occurrence is rare. Kenyaand Mozambique are 

 also extremely important areas for sportfishing for 

 black marlin and sailfish (Howard and Ueyanagi, 

 1965), while swordfish are taken on longlines in this 

 region. Large black marlin are taken commercially 

 off northern Madagascar, and sailfish are reported to 

 be taken commercially from waters around the 

 Comoro Islands. There is good angling for black 

 marlin off Mauritius, while commercial charts reveal 

 heavy concentrations of black marlin in the Indian 

 Ocean east of Madagascar along the parallels of lat. 

 0-10° (Howard and Ueyanagi, 1965; Howard and 

 Starck, 1974). 



To the north, sailfish have been caught by anglers 

 in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. 

 This species may develop as a sportfishing resource 

 as facilities become available. However, no data are 

 available on seasonal or relative abundance of sail- 

 fish in this area. Large sailfish are taken occasionally 

 by anglers in the Persian Gulf. 



India and Ceylon. — Black, blue, and striped mar- 

 lin and sailfish are known to occur in Indian coastal 

 waters, but there has been little angling expended in 

 the area. Ceylon has yielded some large black mar- 

 lin, while shortbill spearfish and swordfish are com- 

 mercially taken in deeper waters. Deraniyagala 

 (1937: 348) reported that the swordfish "is not un- 

 common in deep water to the south and east of 

 Ceylon." 



In the central Indian Ocean east to Sumatra and 

 western Australia, commercial fishing records re- 

 veal good catches of black, blue, and striped marlin. 

 Occasional swordfish and shortbill spearfish are also 

 taken. However, sportfishing facilities are limited in 

 these waters and probably will not increase greatly in 

 the future. Howard and Starck (1974) present sea- 

 sonal distribution charts of longline catches of bill- 

 fishes from these waters. 



The South China Sea and Malaysia.— From 

 longline catch records marlin and sailfish are re- 

 ported to occur throughout Indonesia, the South 

 China Sea, and the Timor and Arafura Seas. Little 

 sport fishing occurs in these waters, largely because 

 of the lack of port facilities and angling equipment. 

 Commercial concentrations of black marlin occur 

 throughout this region. Patrol boats working the In- 

 dochina coast have, in their so-called leisure time, 

 seen and hooked black marlin not far from South 

 Viet-Nam, though the fish are small and scattered. 

 Although sailfish are common in the fall season close 

 to the coast off Nhatrang, South Viet-Nam, the shal- 

 low continental shelf along Indochina appears un- 

 favorable ecologically for the larger members of the 

 billfish family. 



Japan and the East China Sea.— Huge concen- 

 trations of striped marlin and sailfish occur off south- 

 em Japan. But these concentrations are sufficiently 

 far offshore to be past the ordinary range of potential 

 sportfishing vessels. Presently, however, there is 

 little demand for offshore sportfishing facilities in the 

 area despite the occurrence of many potential game 

 fish species in Japanese waters. Black marlin occur 

 throughout this region, but are not fished for by 

 anglers. Billfishes are also common east of Taiwan, 

 where they are taken commercially, but no sport 

 fishery exists for them. 



Indonesia, Philippine Sea, and the 

 Philippines. — Billfishes are relatively uncommon in 

 this region, possibly because the thermocline, which 

 is reported to concentrate food, is deep and below 

 angling depths. Scattered catches of black marlin 

 and sailfish are reported by commercial fishermen, 



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